The Copper House Gallery presents The Cold Edge, an exhibition of stunning polar images by photographer, writer and environmentalist Dave Walsh. Walsh’s ethereal photographs of the unforgiving wilderness, wild animals and blue icebergs question our romantic relationship with remote, harsh and pristine environments. The images resonate with a quiet tension; all may not be right in the Garden of Eden.

“While the frozen regions of our planet have the power to ignite imaginations, for most of the seven billion people on Earth, the Arctic and Antarctic remain abstract and unreachable”, says Walsh. “ I’ve been lucky enough to voyage north and south by ship, to experience the serenity of the oceans and polar regions – and realise how finite our planet is.”

“Rapid change is taking place at the poles; CO2 emissions are contributing to the loss of Arctic sea ice, and melting ice caps are fueling sea level rise. We are starting to grasp how badly we are fouling the nest, and how our acts have repercussions elsewhere. The future of the Arctic and Antarctic is intertwined with our own - through my photography, I want to make people not only fall in love with their home planet, but to start giving a damn and to take action to protect it.”

Originally from Wexford in Ireland’s south east corner, Walsh has voyaged to Greenland, Svalbard (“Cold Edge” in Old Norse) and the Southern Ocean, serving as writer and press officer on board several Greenpeace ship expeditions. Currently based in Brussels, he works with the International Polar Foundation, which promotes action on climate change, energy use, and the crucial role of polar scientific research.

Walsh’s photographs have been used by the Irish Labour party, The Financial Times, the HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords, Greenpeace International, New Scientist, The Smithsonian, Sierra magazine, BBC Wildlife magazine, I Count – Stop Climate Chaos, The UK’s National Theatre, and many others.

He is the author of dozens of articles, online, in newspapers and magazines and has published two books: Haunted Dublin, the co-authored A Load of Blather. He is currently working on a book of polar photography, also named The Cold Edge.

Exhibitions include

Parallel Worlds at The Factory, Sligo (Solo, 2007)

Stand up for Photojournalism National Union of Journalists (touring UK 2009)

Environmental Photographer of the Year 2009 (touring UK and Ireland in 2009/2010)

Dave Walsh received a commendation at the 2009 Environmental Photographer of the Year awards, and was shortlisted for the Extreme Environment Photographic Competition 2011, at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery.